I Love You Because... | Message Box

Hello there! I hope you all had a good weekend and managed to stay fairly dry. I'm absolutely pooped this morning due a late dinner party yesterday, but I have come away from it very excited to share a new dessert recipe with you this week.Seeing as I only came up with the idea yesterday morning in the supermarket, I doubt I'll get a chance to shoot it before Valentine's, but it'll be worth the wait I promise! I'm desperate for the days when I can get home from work and still have daylight to shoot in - no more waiting for the weekend before I can photograph. *turns clocks forward a bit*

So that aside, I have got a fab little craft project for you today, which is perfect if you're either on a budget, only give little somethings or if you want your present to be completely personal and special.This is what I made for P for our very first anniversary and he loved it just as much as I did. Of course, this gift would be lovely to give to a best friend or family member too, it doesn't have to be your sweetheart!It's so easy to vary what you write on here, you could change the text to 'We're best friends because...' or 'The best Mum in the world because...' As long as you've got enough great reasons to fill the cards, you can give it to whoever you like!

What to do:~ Decide on how you want the top of the tin to look. The kissing mice I used were actually from one of the postcards I bought for the project - I cut them out and half glued them down (at the bottom), so their noses came away from the base a little. Use a strong PVA glue for attaching your design to the tin lid, as Pritt isn't quite strong enough to bond to the metal.

~ I also stuck plain cream card to the outside base of the tin too, to cover up the writing on it.~ Next, measure your tin to determine what size the cards need to be, then go a little smaller to allow for the lip. Cut a test card out and clip off the corners if you've chosen to, then check it goes in and out of your tin easily.~ As each of my postcards had different textures, colours, and some text on their undersides, I stuck each whole postcard onto a sheet of A4 plain white paper with the Pritt and cut around them ~ so I ended up with a variety of postcards all with the same white backing. (N.B You may need more than one layer of white paper on some cards, depending on how strong the text is underneath).

~ Once you've done this, use your test card as a template to cut out a stack of message cards (Cut the corners straight at this point). I think I got two cards out of each standard sized postcard. If you are using a round corner punch like me, clip the corners off once all the cards are cut out. ~ (This is a very satisfying task!)

~ Next, draft out what you want to have on the cards ~ you don't have to do this but I'm prone to making mistakes when I write!

Then the fun bit!

~ Write / draw your sayings & any doodles you may want on the white side of the cards and place in a random stack to mix up the patterns. (Ensure the ink is dry before placing them on top of each other).

~ For the inside of the tin, decorate in the same way as the outside, but bare in mind the space inside will be a little smaller this time. I used the inside base as a nice spot to write my Anniversary greeting ~ so in years to come, we won't forget when or why I made this!~ Don't forget to include the 'I love you because...' text, otherwise it's just a tin of unrelated messages! You can put this on the top of the tin instead of just inside if you like, too.I did mine inside the lid so when reading the cards the message was always above them.~ Decorate how you like with your chosen card and embellishments.

~ Lastly, shuffle the cards if you wish and place them all message side down in the tin and close it back up. I used enough cards to completely fill the tin (they all only just fit in!) but you could make less and include a little present or treat for your recipient underneath the cards.

Of course, it doesn't matter which order you do parts of this in ~ you can prep the box before making the cards, and vice versa. Just make sure all glue is dry before you pack it all up.

Have a lovely week my beautiful friends and I would love to hear what you've got planned for this Friday! ;)